Mechanical cucumber harvesters are known. Some are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,841,947, 3,347,031, 3,365,869, 3,386,236, 3,427,794, 3,600,882, and 3,603,067. In general these patents disclose cucumber harvesters for the mechanical picking of cucumbers which employ picking rolls, snap rolls, resilient and hard rolls, and picking rollers in various combinations for the purpose of removing cucumbers from vines which in some of the disclosed apparatus are cut from the roots, whereas in some of the other disclosed apparatus they are not cut from the roots.
Specifically, and by way of example, there is utilized in U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,067 an arrangement in which the vines are cut and snap rolls are used in conjunction with a roller for removing the cucumbers from the vines.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,882 discloses a cucumber harvester of the type in which the vines are not cut. In this patent there is disclosed the use of a plurality of resilient rollers to engage and lift the vines from the ground, the resilient rollers being very soft to avoid damaging the vines so that after the cucumbers have been picked from them, the vines can be left to grow and bear additional cucumbers.
Also of interest is U.S. Pat. No. 2,841,947 which relates to a cucumber harvesting machine including vine lifting and picking mechanisms which comprise a cluster of rolls or roll guided elements such as belts. Again soft rolls are used to achieve the desired result.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,347,031 is an example of a harvester which utilizes belts and rollers for separation of cucumbers from the vines and U.S. Pat. No. 3,365,869 is an example of a cucumber harvester which employs fingers to hold the vines in position while cucumbers are knocked from the vines.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,236 depicts a tractor mounted cucumber harvester which utilizes rollers to remove the cucumbers.
Insofar as is known, one of the most successful harvesters is that depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,603,067. This known apparatus has the inherent disadvantage of utilizing only "once-over" harvesting inasmuch as the apparatus requires that the vines be severed from the roots in order to harvest the cucumbers from the vines. Furthermore, substantial experience with this known apparatus indicates that it greatest efficiency is achieved in the harvesting of large sized cucumbers from vines with the disadvantage of this apparatus being that smaller cucumbers tend to pass through the rolls with the vines to be crushed and rendered useless.
It will be appreciated that it is advantageous not to destroy the vines during harvesting because of the low return achieved on once-over harvesting. Furthermore it would be advantageous to have a mechanical cucumber harvester capable of picking the size ranges required by processors. Obviously, some processors require large sized cucumbers whereas other processors, such as picklers, require relatively small sized cucumbers. It is also believed obvious that if the vines are left on the ground relatively undamaged and without being severed from their roots, after being first harvested, they will be capable of growing additional cucumbers which can be harvested in a few days, depending on weather conditions.
There thus remains a need for a method and apparatus for harvesting cucumbers which does not severe the vines from the roots, which is capable of harvesting the full range of sizes of cucumbers required by processors, which can be manufactured at reasonable cost so as to be affordable to the modest grower, and which can be tractor mounted so that it does not require its own prime mover thereby substantially reducing the cost of the harvester.
The method and apparatus of the present invention is believed to meet these requirements through the provision of a tractor mounted cucumber harvester which utilizes either a pair of co-operating, parallel augers, or a parallel auger and kink roll, to pick up the vines, remove from them cucumbers of various sizes and then relay the vines on the ground without any significant damage having occurred to the vines thereby enabling them to continue their production of cucumbers for further, subsequent harvesting. Although complicated, this harvester has a built in durability that requires little maintenance by a concept utilizing a minimum number of moving parts. It also will work well in wet weather because the tractor wheels can have ruts to follow on a relatively solid base, (a very important point as cucumbers grow faster with alot of moisture and a crop must be kept up if it is to be profitable). It will also work under weedy conditions. Another advantage of planting using this method is known as "bedding" and is catching on very quickly in cucumber growing areas where the soil is on the heavy side such as clay and clay looms.
Harvesting machines employing augers of various sorts, are known for harvesting such vegetables as sugar beets (U.S. Pat. No. 2,547,878), nuts (U.S. Pat. No. 2,916,868), vine crops (U.S. Pat. No. 2,930,436), and fruit and nuts (U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,200).